Conservative billionaires Charles and David Koch have been two of the biggest financial backers of efforts to impede President Obama’s agenda. During a Thursday speech, the president called out the two major right-wing donors over their efforts to undermine the Affordable Care Act.
“Some of the Tea Party’s biggest donors, some of the wealthiest men in America, are funding a cynical ad campaign trying to convince young people not to buy health care at all,” he said. “I mean think about it: These are billionaires several times over—you know they’ve got good health care.”
Obama was referring to the now-famous “Creepy Uncle Sam” ads put out by Generation Opportunity, which has financial ties to the Koch Brothers. The commercials, featuring a puppet Uncle Sam about to perform intimate medical procedures on a young man and woman, urge millennials to “opt out” of Obamacare.
“They are actually spending money on television trying to convince young people that if you’ve got the choice between getting affordable health care or going without health care, you should choose not having any health care,” said Obama, likely referring to the Koch brothers. “Now do you think if you get sick or if you get hurt and you get stuck with a massive bill, these same folks are going to help you out? Are they going to pay for your healthcare?”
Ned Resnikoff is an urban policy analyst, researcher, writer, and editor. His byline has appeared in a variety of publications, including the New York Times, San Francisco Chronicle, Dissent, and The Nation. He writes the newsletter Public Comment, which can be found at publiccomment.blog.